Defrazzle Your Housekeeping

 

Housework is a treadmill from futility to oblivion with stop offs at tedium and counter productivity.

~Erma Bombeck

In a hurry? Jump right to the part you need:

• Quick Resources
• Little Tips
• Middle Tips
• "Oh My Goodness I Need Serious Help!" Tips

Though it would make some of my friends fall off their chairs in laughter, the truth of the matter is, I can clean a house better than most. House cleaning was my first “real” job and I started when I was 13 and worked my way through much of my Junior High years as a house cleaner. It's tough if I hire someone to clean my house (very rare) because I am so picky.

However, the truth of the matter is, my viewpoint on housework is that it's the biggest waste imaginable of my precious time. Sigh. I'm a list person, a goal setter, a visionary. I love to check things off and see myself getting closer and closer to my goals. To invest 2-3 hours in deep-cleaning my house only to have it look exactly as it was, three minutes later, is totally disheartening. I'd rather not even start.

So, over the years, I've learned a few tricks to get through it much quicker, but with the same results. I've also learned to involve my kids, and they've become a big help. My husband is also a big help, and we'll talk about that, too.

Let's start out with some general tips:

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First of all, grab your “50 Ways to Defrazzle Your Housekeeping” Fridge Sheet Check out my articles Defrazzle and Declutter Check out the “Spring Cleaning” posts on my blog You can get some one-on-one mentoring with me in this area or even . . . Get a bunch of friends together and host a workshop or seminar! Check out my "Defrazzle Housekeeping Store" on Amazon for great books and products to help you beat the clutter, and keep a well-ordered home without killing yourself! And, of course, there's my newsletter which about streamlining your housework, or introducing you to new tools and tips for keeping clutter under control, and also more ideas for having your kids (and husband!) help out at home! You'll want to make sure you get all the help you can!

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Little Tips

Here are two of the most important things to remember:

• Put things you love to do on your daily to do list. My daily list has "Read a chapter of a book" written on it three times!
• Make sure your standards are "liveable" not perfection! A little dust or clutter isn't going to kill anyone. Keep it in perspective!

Here are some more great tips to help you along:

• Create a daily routine that includes the “minimum maintenance”, one “hot spot” (a place where stuff tends to get piled up) and one major chore (like cleaning a bathroom, cleaning out the fridge, etc). This is now your “Morning Routine” and must be done without fail.
• As you go about your morning routine, think about what things you could do before you went to bed that would make the morning easier. For example, a quick “clutter blitz” before bed (see below), getting school work gathered together, making sure everyone has the clothing they need, etc.
• Take your house and divide it into 3-4 “zones”. Choose one zone per week so that each area gets dusted, scrubbed and vacuumed each week.
• Choose one room per month to get deep cleaned: Closets cleaned out, light fixtures scrubbed, repairs done, etc.
• When you have this set up, create a “control journal” to keep yourself on track. Here are two examples of control journals:

• “Fly Lady”

and

• “Organized Home”
• Do a 1 minute “clutter blitz” 2x a day. Everyone gets a laundry basket and one area to work at. All the stuff gets put away in that room and things that don't belong there go into the basket. When everyone's done, the baskets are cleaned out, and everyone goes back to what they were doing.
• Complete each load of laundry as you do it: dirty clothes into the wash, washed clothes into the dryer, dry clothes folded (I use the top of the washer and dryer and hang odd socks along the back, and pair as I go, folded clothes into the basket, and delivered and put away immediately.

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Here are some great articles to help you find good ideas to make life easier.

• “Housework Part II - Confessions of a Waldorf Mom"
• “Spend Less Time Doing Household Chores”
• “Surviving Motherhood”
• “Cleaning Shortcuts”

And here are some great books for those of you who just need a gentle nudge:

• 10-Minute Clutter Control: Easy Feng Shui Tips for Getting Organized
• Clutterology Getting Rid of Clutter and Getting Organized

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Middle Tips

If your house isn't a disaster, but it is getting out of control, here are some great tips to help you get it back in shape.

• First of all, make sure you have a system that you can follow (see tips above)
• Be religiously disciplined about that schedule - do it every day before you do anything else. Beat the clock!
• Learn “Speed Cleaning”. The two best books I've seen on this are:
• Speed Cleaning
• Speed Cleaning 101: Cut Your Cleaning Time in Half!

• Clean with Friends: Join the Fly Lady list and clean along with other moms. It's great fun (though you will be overwhelmed at first by the number of e-mails!). Or maybe Organizing Annie is more your style
• Tame the clutter - be ruthless and clean out whatever you don't love, or use. Let this resource help you: Finally Organized, Finally Free
• Get some mentoring. Let me work with you to set up a program just for you, to help you get ahold of your clutter! Click here for details.
• Check out this GREAT “Keep It Clean” list
• Keep paper work under control! Here are great books for that:
• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
• Never Check E-Mail In the Morning: And Other Unexpected Strategies for Making Your Work Life Work

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Here are some more great books for folks at this level:

• Cleaning up the Clutter: Easy Ways to Keep Your Family Organized
• The 15-Minute Organizer
• Organizing from the Inside Out, second edition: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life
• The Family Manager Takes Charge: Getting on the Fast Track to a Happy, Organized Home
• Organizing from the Right Side of the Brain: A Creative Approach to Getting Organized
• Getting Organized

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“Oh My Goodness I Need Serious Help!” Tips

• Get an accountability partner and have them help you stay on track
• Set a goal to complete one room at a time. Have someone come over and celebrate with you in that room when you're done (have them also help you clean up from the celebration when it's over! LOL!)
• Do a 1 minute “clutter blitz” every 90 minutes. Everyone gets a laundry basket and one area to work at. All the stuff gets put away in that room and things that don't belong there go into the basket. When everyone's done, the baskets are cleaned out, and everyone goes back to what they were doing. Keep this up until the house is starting to come together and look a little tidier. As you learn the skills necessary to keep it tidy, you can reduce the “Clutter Blitzes” to 2x a day, just to keep things under control.
• Join “Fly Lady” or Organizing Annie's "Step Cleaning" system (a little confusing at first, but a great way to get yourself into a schedule slowly) and clean along with her faithfully. Follow her steps exactly until you have a great system in place that is working for you. Adjust as you go, but stick with her plan faithfully until you “get it” and then make your adjustments.
• Get some mentoring. Let me work with you to set up a program just for you, to help you set up and maintain a perfect housekeeping system just for you! Click here for details.

Here are some excellent books to help you get out of the “pit” of housekeeping disaster:

• Get Your Act Together: A 7-Day Get-Organized Program For The Overworked, Overbooked, and Overwhelmed
• The New Messies Manual: The Procrastinator's Guide to Good Housekeeping
• How Not to Be a Messie: The Ultimate Guide for the Neatness Challenged : The Messies Manual/the Messie Motivator
• Help, I'm Knee-deep in Clutter! Conquer the Chaos And Get Organized Once And for All

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